Center strut sprinkler



Sept. 30, 19:69 w. E. AuL'r CENTER STRUT SPRINKLER Filed July 7, 1967 wym WWW/fm A 'TORNl-) United States Patent 3,469,632 CENTER STRUT SPRINKLER Wayne Edward Ault, Youngstown, Ohio, agnor to Automatic Sprinkler Corporation of America, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Filed July 7, 1967, Ser. No. 651,910 Int. Cl. A62c 37/16, 37/08 U.S. Cl. 169-39 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A ire extinguishing sprinkler including a discharge orifice and a spaced deflector and means normally` closing said discharge orice and responsive in opening to predetermined heat conditions.

and movable to free said discharge' orice upon reaching a predetermined temperature.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Fire extinguishing sprinklers heretofore known in the art have used many and various devices for holding the discharge orifice closed at normal temperatures Vand acting to open the discharge orifice at predetermined increased temperatures. Most of the devices used for temporarily closing the discharge orifices ha-v`e 'comprised opposed levers extending outwardly of. the sprinkler in angular relation and secured in fixed position at their outermost ends by a fusible metal link, which is usually two pieces of metal soldered together with arheat melting solder. The construction and assembly of fire extinguishing sprinklers with these conventional levers is an exacting and painstaking operation. Other tire extinguishing sprinklers have been provided with a frangible glass or quartz bulb filled with a readily vaporizable liquid having the capability of breaking the bulb upon a predetermined temperature vaporizing the contents. These several devices of the prior art must be carefully made to close tolerances, and even more carefully assembled into the sprinklers in order to be operable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention discloses an improvement in the means holding the discharge oriiice closed by substituing a simple center strut lever engaged at one end on a cap in the discharge orifice, and at its other end engaged on a spherical member which is partially positioned within an inverted cup, the cup being filled with the fusible solder. An attached or integral arm on the cup extends downwardly alongside the center strut and engages the same in a notch near the portion of the center strut positioned on the orice closing cap. The construction is easy to form, of simple parts, and equally easy to assembly and it possesses the ability of falling free of the sprinkler once the fusible material in the cup reaches its flow point at its predetermined temperature, as the sphere simply moves inwardly of the cup and the parts fall away from the sprinkler.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through a' sprinkler with parts broken away and parts in cross-section.

Patented Sept. 30,v 1969 rice FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the portions of the.

sprinkler seen in FIGURE l of the drawing.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal section taken on line 3 3 of FIGURE 2 of the drawing.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through apart of the sprinkler seen in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing, and broken lines in FIGURE 4 show the positioning of the respective parts immediately following release of the same when the sprinkler operates responsive to a predetermined temperature. By referring to the drawing, and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seen that .a majority of the lire extinguishing sprinkler has been disclosed and includes a base portion 10 having a discharge orifice 11 therein, normally closed by a gasket 12 and registering cap 13. The sprinkler includes the usual vertically standing oval frame 14 and the deector 15 mounted on the upper end of the frame 14, with a central vertical adjustment screw 16 positioned through the central area of thedeector 15 and the upper end of the frame 14, and having its lower end which has arecess therein, extending into the area defined by the vertically standing oval frame 14, as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

The sprinkler illustrated in FIGURE 1 of the drawing provides a novel construction lbetween the lower end of the adjusting screw 16 and the upper indented surface of the cap 13, to apply sufficient tension to the cap 13 to hold the same in water-tight relation until such time as the sprinkler opens responsive to predetermined heat conditions. In the drawing this means comprises a fuse cylinder 17 partially iilled with a fusible material 18, such as solder, having a known fusing temperature. The upper end of the fuse cylinder 17 is rounded and closed, as at 19, so as to register with the recess in screw 16 and the lower end is open and receives a loosely litting piston disc 20. A sphere 21 is partially engaged in the lower open end of the fuse cylinder 17 and engaged against the piston disc 20. The piston disc 20 and the sphere 21 are held within the end of the fuse cylinder 17 by crimping the lower edge 22 thereof sufliciently to prevent the sphere 21 from falling out.

A primary lever 23 is attached at its uppermost end to the outside of the fuse cylinder 17 and it extends downwardly and inwardly relative to the fuse cylinder 17 and is provided with a pointed lower end 24. A secondary lever 25 having a substantially horizontal upper end portion 26, an intermediate inclined section 27 land a lower end section formed with a pair of spaced transversely extending ribs 28 defining a transverse groove 29 therebetween, has a pointed lower end 30 engaged in a centered depression in the cap 13 heretofore referred to as forming the closure for the discharge orifice 11 of the sprinkler. The secondary lever 25 is relatively wide, as may best be seen in FIGURE 2 of the drawing, and it is provided with a circular aperture 31 Iin the upper portion thereof, connecting the angular section 27 with the substantially horizontal portion 26 thereof, as hereinbefore described. The circular aperture 31 registers with the lower portion of the sphere 21 and is held thereby in the position illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2 of the drawing, and in solid lines in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, and it will be seen that the substantially horizontal section 26 of the secondary lever 25 is bifurcated at its outer end to form a pair of projecting arms 32 which are positioned one on either side of the primary lever 23. The pointed lower end 24 of the primary lever 23 is engaged in the groove 29 near the lower end of the secondary lever 25, and thus as long as the fusible material 18 in the fuse cylinder 17 remains solid the piston disc cannot move relative thereto, nor can the sphere 21, and thus the sphere 21 directly engages the substantially horizontal portion 26 of the secondary lever 25 and holds it in position wherein the cap 13 is in closed relation on the discharge orifice 11 of the sprinkler.

By referring now to FIGURE 4 of the drawing, it will be observed that the fusible material 18 in the fuse cylinder 17 has softened as by reaching its predetermined temperature, and reached a semi-fluid state where the piston disc 20 can move inwardly of the fuse cylinder 17 responsive to the urging of the secondary lever 25, which is urged upwardly and outwardly by fluid pressure in the discharge orifice of the sprinkler, and which pressure is exerted against the cap 13. When the sphere 21 moves inwardly of the fuse cylinder 17 a short distance the upper substantially horizontal end 26 of the secondary lever 25 may and will move to the right, as seen in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, by reason of the fulcrum formed thereagainst by the lower pointed end 24 of the primary lever 23 engaging the groove 29 transversely in the secondary lever 2S, as heretofore described. As a result of this interrelation of the levers 23 and 25, the freeing of the upper end of the secondary lever 25 results in its moving to the right to the Iposition shown in broken lines in FIGURE 4 of the drawing, while the primary lever 23, and particularly the lower end thereof, also moves to the right and the parts including the fuse cylinder 17 fall out of the sprinkler along with the cap 13, and thus provide clear passageway for the re extinguishing uid to flow upwardly through the sprinkler frame 14 and engage against the deflector 15, all as will be understood by those skilled in the art.

It will thus be seen that a simple and eflicient center strut sprinkler has been disclosed wherein the levers holding the closure cap on the discharge orifice of the sprinkler comprise centrally positioned struts extending between the cap and the adjustment screw Whichis in the upper central Vertical portion of the sprinkler. It will also be apparent that the assembly is easy to manufacture and relatively simple to install and adjust, and that there is a relatively wide tolerance possible in the adjustment and setting of the sprinkler, due to the relative positioning of the sphere 21 and the registering location of the same relative to the secondary lever.

Thus, the central strut sprinkler disclosed herein meets the several objects of the invention, and having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A re extinguishing sprinkler having a frame locating a discharge orifice and a deliector spaced relative thereto, a cap normally closing said discharge orifice and a strut-like assembly of levers positioned between said cap and said sprinkler frame, an adjustable screw in said frame in oppositely disposed relation to said cap, one of said strut-like levers having an inverted fuse cylinder partially filled with fusible material attached to one end thereof in offset relation, a piston disc in said fuse cylinder, a sphere partially positioned in said fuse cylinder and enga-ging said piston disc; the other lever having one end thereof engaged on said cap and having an angular shape with an opening therein, said opening partially engaging said sphere, said other lever having an offset therein spaced from said opening therein for receiving the end of said first mentioned lever, said cap, adjustment screw, fuse cylinder, sphere and the majority of said other lever being positioned on the axial center line of said sprinkler frame.

2. The lireexting'uishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 and wherein the fuse cylinder on the first mentioned lever is closed at its 'ripper end, rounded and engaged in a recess in the end of said adjustment screw.

3. The re extinguishing sprinkler set forth in claim 1 and wherein said piston disc is loosely positioned in said fuse cylinder Vsuch as to permit said fusible material to flow around the peripheral edge thereof when displaced by said piston disc and said sphere.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,919,508 7/1933 Griffith 169-39 X 2,129,012 9/1938 Lewis 169-39 2,165,477 7/1939 Griffith 169-39 EVERETT W. KIRBY, Primary Examiner MICHAEL Y. MAR, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

